Container for sheet materials



Nov. 15, 1938. JR.. ET AL CONTAINER FOR SHEET MATERIALS I J. M. NELSON,

Filed Nov. 11, 1935 Patented Nov, 15, 1938 CONTAINER John M.Nels0n,-'Jr., Baltimoraiand Edgar Wat son,-T0ws'on, Md'., assignorstoThe Nelson Corporation, fBaltirnore, Md., a corporation [of MarylandApplicationjNorember 11,1936, Serial No.,110,394 '2 Claims, (01. 206-)i'l'hiszinventionzrelates toimprovements in con-r transportation andstorage oftainers for the sheet materials, and is particularly of valuein the handling of sheet materialsuwhich :mustxbe ZDIQtECtGd againstatmospheric.conditions, and :againstthe rubbing of zone sheetupon'anothenk differ considerably in lgage (Jr-thickness, certainitolerances niust be provided; and 'hence'an en tirely rigid structuremust be consti uctedwith walls of sufficient strength to supporta heavy.

superimposed load, even un'der the conditions of acceleration effectssucl1-asoccur-during-ship-g ment bysea, I p H Since thecustomary mannerof shippin'g such products is to employ a structure which is discardedat the point at which th'e'fpackagefi's opened and the sheetsdistributed, 11; s essential that the cost shall be 10W. Further, sincethe shipments are often made -under 'lcohditions-a't which "a" moistatmosphere is e'ncountered, -a'nd sometimes the packages' -are exposedto-the-raiii,

it is essentialinthe designof the pa'ckageto'provide an adequateprOtecti n' 'igainst soilingfor iotherdeterioration-ofthesheets. T

"of means for enclosing 'a stack of -such sheet *material, and providingtherewith an adequately closed and protected Zpackage which is capableof sustaininga heavy superimposedload,

-An illustrative form of practicing" the inven 'tion is set out ontheaccompanying drawing, :in

-WhiChI the superposition oi the. packages. o Figure 2 is a perspectiveview showing: the assembly of parts in-a single package. Figure 3 is aperspective view--ofthe platform --p0rtion-of the structure.

-Figure {l is a similar cover portion. V v Figure 5 is an uprightlongitudinal section, on a large scale. 7 T 5 Figure -6;is a perspectiveviewshowing thearrangement and position of the-parts duri'ngzthe fillingof the container. r

perspective View of the In the drawing, Fig; 1 illustratesthe packages:A, B superimposed upon one sanotheni-parts of these packages beingbrokenaway toshow-that skids.

' as [indicated .in Fig.1,

Figure 1 is a View on afsinallyscale'gindicatingl twentyf-eightinches'.

f form,lribs 13 are lprovided5alorig the ilongerfedges l "of the bottommember and: are fixedly secured thereto} with :their inner rmargi'ns in,spaced relation to-the adjacent redges-oifthe false :bottom '.member 12.Atthe ends,-;rib:pieces liaisepm: vided in rigidly-securedrelation-butterminatingxshortcf contact with 7the;.ribsl3: these piecesthe pile of sheets Silh each container rests solidly upon :the :fioorstructure .F of this container, and

that the weight .is itransmitted 1ar gely: at :the ends of eachipackage,being transferred'from'thekskids ofianioverlying packageztothe cover ofthe-adjacent underlying one, and then directly toqthe pilecflsheets S;andjfi 'om'this in tu'rntoithe fioor of this lower package; and='thus.'to the lower ince :with many sheet 'materials'rand normal tinplatein particular)r:the operations'of trimming the sheets results :inthe forming of, a

" curlxat the edge; itiis customary that theistack of sheets ishigheratiits ends than at its middle,

Hence the floors t-he *skidsand the covers Zof'the packages-operate'to'-' Q gether in transferring ithei'central load toward the. ends, sothat'thecloading. at centralportions .ci the containers zis (relatively.low, and there i is substantially 5T1!) :bending of the .-'c0verstructures nor considerable loads. upon theside wails.

' lEachpackage vcomprises theiccont ents and the enclosingst-ructure'rforniing a "container. Each container .is illustrated=as,havingfithe three skids lid-which extendiin the directionofthem-minimum dimension'of the rectangular'sheet, in ithisrillus-trative.-fonn, and are spaced .zsufiiciently iapar't so that {the:usual arms of the handling truck "can be introduced thereunder:iori'liftingth'e pa ole age and transportingj it 'as desiredrandarealso serviceable' for permitting rthe' ea sy release of i V V :slingchainswhen the devicesareliftediby acrane Thepresentinvention-comprisesthe proyisionfl.for like structure. On top oi these'skids is proyided abotto'm member H which-is largerithan the size of thesheetto "be -contained, and is rectangular' when the sheetislrectangular. j. pon

this bottom member ll' rests a ialselbottomimember'fiZf-whichis-substantially identical in size the false'b ottom l2 of the order ofone s'ixteenth of aninch for a sheetwhichis "abouteighteen' by ='In*theparticular illustrated M likewise are spaced away from the adjacer-ltedges of the false bottom member 4 2.]

the bottom member ll.

the rib pieces I4,'while the lower edge of the end walls [5 are receivedin the grooves between the pieces l4 and the false bottom member l2. Arear wall I! is provided, with its longitudinal dimension substantiallyequal to the length of The front wall i8 is preferably identical withthe rear wall ll. 7

The cover comprises the upper closing member l9 which is provided at itslower surface with the rib or skirt pieces which provide a downwardlyextending flange along the periphery of the entire structure, the innerwalls of this flange closely conforming with the position occupied bythe outer surfaces of the front, end and. rear walls. In addition, thiscover member contains the pressure battens 2| which are of substantiallythe same length as the horizontal dimension. of the adjacent end wall,and are so located as to provide a groove at the end wall for. thereception of the top edge thereof.

Normally, the bottom structure of Fig. 3 and the top structure of Fig. 4are manufactured independently, in association with the independentmanufacture of the parts constituting the front, end and side walls, andmay be shipped in this condition to the packaging plant. It is, however,possible to assemble the two end walls with the back wall to provide anopen U-shaped structure prior to shipment.

In any event, when the parts are brought into the shipping room, thepreferred manner of pro cedure is to mount such a U-shaped member inposition on the floor structure 3, with the lower edges of the end wallsand of the rear wall in the grooves provided just inside of the rear ribl3 and of the rib pieces [4. The material is then introduced into theopened structurev thus provided (as shown in Fig. 6). In the shipment oftin. plate, the customary procedure is to manufacture the plate and-thenclip or cut it to the desired size. It is then given a final inspectionimmediately before packaging. For this purpose, a pile of the sheets ispositioned in front of, a worker, who takes the sheets one at a time andinspects the upper and lower surfaces thereof. Experienced workersperform thisoperation very rapidly. The sheetis then introduced into theassembly of Fig. 6, and is caused to abut against the walls, so that thesheet falls correctly into position upon the bottom, or upon the nextpreceding sheet. Owing to the clearances between the walls, this resultsin the quick formation of an accurate stack of material. It is oftenadvantageous to slightly raise the open or front side of the containerby means of a block (Fig. 6), which sometimes assists in assuring thatthe front edges of the sheets will be at a. uniform position. Usually,the inspector, has two such containers at hand, and delivers grade Asheets into one of them, while grade B sheets are placed in another.

The containers are designed on the basis of the gage ofthe material andthe number of sheets which are to be placed therein. When tin plate isbeing shipped, it is customary to have the height from, say, eleven tofourteen inches, de-

pending upon the area of the particular sheets.

This means that a package will be of very great weight, such as one ortwo tons.

When the inspector has filled the container to the desired height, whichis somewhat less than the height of the vertical walls, a shipping clerkutilizes a truck to remove the filled container, and its position isthen taken by an empty container. The withdrawn container then receivesthe front wall l8, which is slipped into the front groove on the bottomstructure. The cover is then applied, its peripheral flange portions 20coming outside of the Vertical walls (Fig. 5); while theweight-transmitting battens 2| come down upon the pile of sheets withinthe container. In the design and packaging, the sheets come to such anelevation with respect to the upper margins of the side walls that thespace 26 is left thereat,

. in order that theweight of the cover I9 may not come against the upperedge of the walls l5, l1, l8.

Bolts 30 are then passed through apertures providedin the bottom memberI l and the member l9, and with'the use of proper washers, these boltsare drawn tight. Since these bolts may be formed by threading each endof round steel stock of the proper length, they are very inexpensive.They are preferably located close to the angles provided by the battensl6 and. the walls 15, whereby they are protected against mechanicaldamage. The operation of drawing these bolts down assures a tightengagement of the weight-transmitting battens 2| with the stack ofsheets, at the ends of these sheets where the thickness of the pile orstack is greatest: while still leaving a space 26.

The packages thus closed may be moved onto cars, or transported orstored otherwise. The

superposition of these packages gives no difiiculty, and thesuperimposed packages accurately transmit their weight through thefloors, skids and top walls, so that the weight is supported within eachcontainer by the pile of sheets therein: the space 26 being-maintainedeven under extremely heavy loads. I

The closed and bolted package has the upper and lower edges of thevertical walls sealed by the close-fitting engagement of the margins ofthese vertical walls in the grooves provided at the bottom and topstructures of Figs. 3 and 4, and it will be noted thatthe stack of sheetmaterial has its lower surface well above the lower edges'of thesevertical walls, so, that leakage does not .run directly tothe lowermostsheets; while the general arrangement prevents the penetra tion of thedriving rain into the interior of the package.

It is preferred to manufacture the parts of wood, for thereason thatwood has a certain supporting and cushioning efiect without damage tothe edge of the sheets, andv prevents damage by the action of a slingchain or the like along In manufacturing the container of wood, thevarious parts may be made edges of the package.

of simple shapes, each of the partsbeing essentially' a rectangularparallelo'pipedom'so that the container may be manufactured with theleast wastage and scrap. The skids are properly located, the bottommember"! I placed thereon, and the false bottom positioned: these partsare then nailed tightly together. Similarly, the ribs and rib pieces arepositioned and nailed. The forming of the holes for the bolts 30 may beeffected prior to the assembly of these parts, or after the bottomstructure has been completed, as may be the more convenient andexpedient. Similarly, the top structure and the end walls are assembledby nailing. I

As pointed out above, it is preferred to join two end walls and the rearwall I! before the start of packaging. For this purpose, the nails maybe driven adjacent the vertical edges of the rear wall I1 into thebattens "land into the adjacent end of the end wall l5.

After fitting the front wall l8 in position, it is preferred likewise tonail it to the adjacent batten l6 and to the adjacent ends of the endwall l5, as shown by the nail heads in Fig. 2.

One of the features of the present arrangement is that the ribs, flangesand bolts operate to support the vertical walls, even againstconsiderable impacts of the contained material,

whereby itis unnecessary to secure either the upper or lower edges ofthese vertical walls, and hence the operations of removing the sheetsfrom the container are easy;

The sheets may be readily rendered accessible for withdrawal, byunscrewing the nuts from the bolts 30, and lifting off the coverstructure of Fig. 7 4. This exposes the stack of sheets, and alsopermits the withdrawal of the four side walls, either individually or asa group, without disturbing the stack ofsheets. After the vertical wallsare removed, it is possible to inspect the cut edges of each and everysheet in the stack, and to remove It will be understood generally thatthe illustrative form is not the only one in which the invention may bepracticed, but that many modifications may be made therein within thescope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A container for sheet materials, comprising a, bottom memberproviding a floor upon which the stack of sheets may rest, verticalwalls secured to said bottom member and supported against lateralmovement with respect thereto, compression members engaging the stack ofsheets within said vertical walls and extending above the upper edges ofthe said vertical walls, and av cover member resting on saidcompressionmembers and maintained thereby spaced above thesaid upper edges of thevertical walls whereby to relieve the said vertical walls from anysuperimposed load and to transmit the load through the stack of sheetsto said bottom member.

2. A container for sheet materials, comprising a bottom member providinga floor upon which the stack of I sheets may rest, vertical wallssecure-d to said bottom member and supported against lateral movementwith respect thereto, compression members engaging the stack of sheetswithin said vertical walls and extending above the upper edges of thesaid'vertical walls, a cover member resting on said compression membersand maintained thereby spaced above the said upper edges of the verticalwalls whereby to relieve the said vertical walls from any superimposedload and to transmit the load through the stack of sheets to said bottommember, and skids depending from said bottom member and adapted totransmit a superimposed load therethrough to the cover member of anothercontainer located thereunder.

JOHN. M. NELSON, JR. EDGAR WATSON.

